The Rather Odd Reason Matt Lauer Says He Doesn’t Pay Attention to One Form of Viewer Criticism

Matt Lauer, the co-host of NBC’s "Today," tells the New York Daily News that he’s unfazed by criticism he receives on Twitter.

The reason? He says he barely looks at the micro-blogging service.

People who tweet "have an opinion and two thumbs, and that gives them the right to do whatever they want,” Lauer told the paper.

As for negative comments on Twitter, he added, “I’m not on it enough to know. I’m really not. I don’t pay enough attention to it.”

The explanation begs the question as to why, then, Lauer would even keep a Twitter account.

On Thanksgiving, when Lauer was a part of the network’s coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Twitter users picked apart everything about him — from his aging appearance to the mispronunciation of a Gershwin song, the story notes.

The piece reports: “Among the more choice tweets was ‘Matt Lauer should get a lifetime achievement award for saying ridiculous things with deadpan, absolute sincerity. Way to go, Matt.’ Another wrote, ‘Is there a device to delete Matt Lauer’s voice while watching the Macy’s parade?’”

The Twitter criticisms come as NBC executives have defended Lauer, with departing "Today" executive producer Jim Bell saying Lauer had nothing to do with dumping Ann Curry, a move that angered a lot of viewers, the piece adds.